Cuba 2016 Adventure

Cuba 2016 Adventure

Well that’s another trip full of fun memories to put under my belt. Or in a photo album for all to see.

Cuba.

To be precise, Melia Las Antillas on the Varadero peninsula.

Beautiful spot.

It’s an older hotel, but the updates they have done in the last couple of years (and still doing while we were there), it looks awesome.

Old lookNew look

My hubby and I were there in 2014 and fell in love with the people. Yes it’s an older resort, but what awesome updates they have done in the past 2 years. In fact, they were still working on the new stone walkways while we were there, and they look amazing.

Big difference!!!

We got there before our room was ready, the same one we had a couple of years ago, and didn’t mind the little bit of wait. Because of the mishap from our first time visiting, the resort was very accommodating to my requests.

Me and Betsy

Everything was given a face lift as it were. I’m excited to go back to see what else they’ve added. Plus we miss our Cuban family. They are the reason why we work hard to go back. Betsy, Raul, Martica; love and miss them all.

Me and Martica

These two ladies were awesome to get to chat with again. There’s a funny story involving Martica that I’ll share in a little bit. I’m sure she’ll never forget it any time soon.

We (my husband and I) didn’t bother with any excursions this time around. We did however visit Varadero for a few hours. Unfortunately, it was a day where it was high winds, even the beaches were closed down as the waves were really high and too dangerous to swim. Because of this, everyone had the bright idea of going to Varadero for the day, which caused every double-decker bus to be over the limit of people. A couple of buses passed us by because they couldn’t take any more people. Some people were grabbing taxis, we waited for the next bus. Hoping it wasn’t too full. No such luck though. But we made it and went to the bigger of their flea markets. Sorry I didn’t get a picture, I’ll get one on the next trip. I didn’t think about the picture until after we were 2 blocks away. Wasn’t going back, LOL.

And when I said ‘everyone’ I mean EVERYONE from every resort on the Varadero peninsula. LOL. There were a couple of buses that past us by because they were loaded down. To the point where they were actually leaning to one side. I highly doubt that was safe, LOL. But it was an adventure nonetheless. 🙂

We got to the market and browsed around first before committing on actually buying stuff. Most things were the same as 2 years ago, others were new-ish. Towards the end of the browsing, we stumbled across some wooden carvings. What got our attention was the 3-headed dragon. I looked at my hubby and we both said, “Yep.” The young man there spoke great English, and apparently he works part time as a tour guide. You will have to forgive me though, as I can’t remember his name. But when I find his card, I’ll edit to add him in.

They had all kinds of wooden carvings. And yes, they were finished wood to bring home. So we ended up getting the 3-headed dragon, a dinosaur’s head (which really looked more like Nessy), a dolphin and a turtle (those 2 were for our daughter). The gentleman was kind enough to burn on their names, Cuba and 2016 on the dinosaur’s head and the tail of the dolphin. Our kids loved these most of all.

It was lovely this time to just relax and not have a care in the world. Meeting new people from all over the world and just hanging out at the pool bar with Raul and the other 2 Musketeers 🙂 Miss those guys and can’t wait to see them again.

Now don’t get me wrong,, even though we had an awesome time with just me and hubby,, I did miss our friends we traveled with 2 years ago. But when traveling with just your significant other, you get to think about a lot of things and people who matter to you the most. And I’m so grateful for everyone I have in my circle. Albeit it’s not a big circle, but I know who I can count on when I’m having a bad day. 🙂

Now before I end off this post,, mainly because I’ve had this in draft since MARCH, but I mentioned a funny story that happened. So now’s a good a time as any to tell it.

Ok. So we were having our last night at the Italiano restaurant, invited by Carlos, and we were enjoying the music being played in the back ground. Well for whatever reason I happened to look at the PAINTED clocks on the wall that were opposite to our table when I felt the urge to want to hurry. I knew we weren’t seated for that long, but the time on the “clock” was 10:14pm. So I told hubby that we have to hurry or we’re going to miss the entertainment (it already started 9:30pm). Well, he looked at me funny and looked at his real watch. It was only 8pm at this point. He started laughing so much his face was turning red and he started crying. When I realized what I said, I started laughing. Our server, Martica seen us and came over to see what we were laughing at. Hubby told her and she started laughing too. Poor girl was even trying to server other customers or reset tables and not laugh. I have to commend her for that one, LOL. At one point she walked past us and spoke, “I can’t look at you right now”. LOL. Anyway, if you ever go to this resort and go to the Italiano restaurant, ask Martica if that’s the right time. LOL.